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Results tagged ‘ Josh Johnson ’

Adding rotation depth?
“We’d like to do it but we’re not going to do it at all costs. As we sit here today I think it’s unlikely at this point, we’re getting so late into spring training. Unlikely unless a trade emerges, but again. As the offseason has progressed, we’ve felt better about the internal options, especially the young guys, whether it’s a guy like Stroman, Drew Hutchison, Kyle Drabek. Brandon Morrow looks great. We felt good about him in November but as he’s progressed through the offseason, we feel even better about him. That being said, if something presented itself, we’d love to do it. We just haven’t been able to find anything that works for us.”

The following is partial — but mostly complete — transcript of Alex Anthopoulos’ media scrum regarding the job safety of John Gibbons and a slew of other topics:

Have you been following the recent comments about how the Blue Jays should fire John Gibbons? Have you thought about firing him?

“No. I haven’t been reading them but I was told about it. Today I was doing an interview and I was told by the interviewee that seems to be the big talk. I’ve been staying away from reading a lot of things but there are no changes, John is our manager and we expect him to be.

“But I understand what the response is, when you’re not playing well as a team, these are things that happen. You talk about the GM, the manager, you talk about the players … people want a reason and changes usually come when players aren’t playing well and teams aren’t performing. I think that comes with the territory so I’m not surprised from that respect. I’m not saying that just in respect to Gibby, when you’re not playing well, you’re not going to have nice things to say and good stories to write.

So you don’t plan on making a managerial move…

“No, not at all. I don’t think our issues, I think we can all get better, myself included. When we are where we are in the standings and the results are what they are there’s clearly a lot of room for improvement and clearly we’re going to need some sort of change. I’m not prepared to say what those are, I think we need to play out the season, either way we’ve looked it, we’ve talked about it. We can look at so many areas because when you have the results that we have, there are plenty of areas, I do think and I believe that, if you look at this historically, second last in starters’ ERA, I’ve yet to see some teams have success doing that and ultimately we can examine why that is, and that’s not to say we can’t improve in other areas, offensively, defensively, but I think that’s where it starts … I don’t know how much the manager can influence that part of the game alone.”

So, unequivocally, Gibbons will be back next year?

“Yes, there has never been any thought on that respect at all.”

Looking back, did you whiff on some of your offseason trades?

“I think there are certain trades that haven’t worked out in terms of the performance of the players, I think that goes without saying. There were players we expected to play better, be more healthy, all of those things. I think with any thing, some trades take a little more time to develop, especially if you have a player that’s under contract …

“You have to just go back to your process. I look back all of the time, I review, and there are times things don’t work out and there are times ultimately that we can improve our process and change it. We’ve reviewed it a ton obviously, we review everything when you’re not playing the way we expected to play and everyone expected us to play. I do believe our process was sound, that doesn’t mean we can’t improve, we always look to improve but I do believe our process was sound. Certain things haven’t worked out and sometimes it’s hard to explain why some players don’t play as well then they go somewhere else and play better.”

You’re talking about reviewing the organization, does that mean the review of the manager is complete? Gibbons will be back?

“Yes, I’ve already said that. But the review, I think you review the team all of the time, top to bottom, including yourself, that goes without saying. I don’t know that there’s a team with a perfect anything. Manager, GM, players, everyone can get better in this game, I think everyone would acknowledge that. I don’t think there has been a person in this game that has said, I’ve got all the answers and it’s all there. Our focus is on how do we make this team better and it starts obviously with players.

“There are other areas that we can look to improve upon, but I do think it all starts with the players and the talent we have on the field. Some of it has been health, we need to look at some of those things as well, we had a lot of injuries again, twice in a row now. Last year it was one time, now… there are so many things and we still have four or five weeks, who knows what else comes? Good and bad. I think you take the full season to review.”

Why are you so loyal to Gibbons?

“I actually think, the in-game managing, I think he has done a great job. I think it’s so easy to pin results on one person. I think it’s
convenient. I could say that for myself, I could say that for certain players, for the manager. I just don’t think blame falls on one person. I
think when we’re playing the way we have, I just don’t think it falls on one person, it’s collectively. There’s blame to share, that’s probably
the best way to put it. I just don’t believe it’s one thing and that’s the issue. I think Gibby, in game, has done a great job. We’ve had
three-fifths of our rotation in flux, whether it’s through injury or performance.

“We’ve only had two mainstays in the rotation the entire year, that’s no an excuse, that’s just a fact. That comes to my chair, it
comes down to the players, the staff, the training staff, we’re all accountable to an extent why things have gone the way they have. But to
sit there and say it’s one person, that doesn’t make any sense. I think it’s an easy out to be honest with you.”

When you look back, what are words you use to describe this season?

“Obviously we haven’t played to expectations the way we thought we would. I know that’s about 20 words there. I haven’t sat and thought about it. You’re obviously going day to day with it and dealing with things as they come up. But there’s no question, no one’s enjoying watching the results and the play and all that type of stuff.

“Our focus has to be on how do we get better. To focus on blame and things like that, that’s part of the process and the evaluation but I
just don’t think, it’s collectively when we’ve had the results we’ve had, it’s a lot of areas.”

Do you still believe the core can win?

“I do. But again, where we are where we are with the rotation, you guys can pull it up, I’ve yet to see teams with the performance we’ve had in the rotation that you can win that way. That’s not to say that our position players are perfect by any stretch or we can’t improve the
offence in certain areas or we can’t improve defensively and all those things but ultimately I do think it starts on the mound. I think there’s
an impact to the bullpen, there’s an impact to the offence, you’re down four or five runs in the first inning or the second inning and you start to press. I think there’s just a carry over effect in so many ways. Health is part of it too.”

“We felt we were going to have a very strong starting rotation coming into the year. That obviously hasn’t been the case so that has to
strongly be reevaluated. In terms of cores, things change from year to year, player evaluations change from year to year so for the most part I think we all can see the players that have performed and have been good players for us, I think that goes without saying. Players that haven’t performed as well, haven’t had as good a season, we evaluate them, contractually as well.”

After Buehrle, Dickey, Happ, how do you envision rest of rotation shaping up next couple of weeks?

“The remaining two spots, we’ll see how things go. I think a guy like Todd, obviously, starting tomorrow, we’ll see how he does. Hopefully he gets back on track, he’s had some good starts, he had a rough one against the Astros. I think it’s important for him. It’s really start to start for some of those guys as well. We’ve talked about calling up some of the young guys but, again, we’re letting them make all their starts as well. We haven’t made any determinations. We’re really using these last few starts to finish the evaluation.”

Johnson’s future and whether club would make qualifying offer at end of the season…

“I think you wait because you see how he recovers, he responds. Dr. Andrews said two weeks of no throwing, then get up again. They want to get him up off a mound by the end of the season. That will tell us a lot as well. The fact we don’t have to make a decision today, why not take the time to get more information? Who knows, along the way maybe he does great, maybe, obviously we hope not, there’s some type of setback. We’ll take the time.”

How can their not be a culture of losing if you’re losing in the clubhouse?

“I guess it depends on what you define it as. When you’re losing, you’re losing. But I don’t define it that way. If you choose to do that, that’s
your right. But to me, it comes down to none of those players want to under perform or not do well in games. You guys are in there, I don’t
think anyone is happy about it or likes coming to the ballpark like that, everyone would prefer to win I think that goes without saying.”

Difference between wanting to win and knowing how to win?

“Certain people can say that, if our starters’ ERA is last or second last in baseball and our guys are battling back and losing 7-5, is it that? Or
is it, maybe, if we gave up four runs instead of eight. If we do comeback for that day, do we know how to win and the next day we forgot? It’s so subjective. That’s not to say you’re wrong but I think it’s so subjective it’s hard for anyone to pinpoint. There are things statistically you can pinpoint, clearly the rotation needs to be better, we can look back historically I don’t think there are teams that are last or second last (in ERA) that have had success. That’s fact, the other stuff is definitely open for debate, conversation and improvement.

“But if you’re middle of the pack, offensively we can get better we we’re not the worst in the league. The rotation, from a consistency standpoint in the offseason, that’s where we need to get better, we’ll go as far as our rotation gets us. We felt very good about the starters we had and it didn’t work out, health, performance, things like that. We’ve had really two guys be mainstays the other year, three have been up and down.”

See enough progress in young guys like Lawrie, Arencibia, Rasmus?

“In certain areas. I don’t know that you’re ever satisfied, guys can always get better. Even players that are good players, there are areas
they can get better. Everyone’s game can get better so there’s always room for improvement for every player.”

Among theories you’re kicking around, things you can measure, but are there intangibles or subjective issues that you can say you need?

“We’ve talked about that, we just don’t know how far to take it. I don’t want to get into (specifics) because one, it could be a lot of things
where people run back to players. That’s more on the brain storming side and I’ve been here in years past when players get a label of this or that and they go somewhere else and they do well. I think it’s a dangerous, slippery slope and you have to be careful. A lot of it comes down to production.

“It’s amazing how much our opinions of players change when the production changes. We had issues with certain parts of their game, and
then the production is a little better and now we kind of forget about the other issues. I don’t want to single out any of our players but you
guys can go back through it. It’s amazing how quickly our opinions change when the performance is better.”

Changing rotation next year…

“We’ve got four guys contractually right now in Dickey, Morrow, Buehrle and Happ. Then we have some of the young guys internally, Hutchison, Drabek, guys that have made starts this year Redmond, Rogers and so on. We’re always looking to add. I don’t know ultimately that it will be there, I don’t think we’re going to look to force anything but we’re always going to look to add. I think there’s improvement we can get from within as well. Brandon Morrow from 2011, what looked to be a 2012, I don’t think we were shocked with the way he was performing because I think we all knew it was in there.

“If Brandon Morrow comes back next year and pitches somewhat close to what he was in 2012 I don’t think anyone would be surprised because the ability is there. R.A. I think has been significantly better the last month or two … I could see him significantly better. Mark, I think, has been the same guy he has been his entire career.

“Ideally you go outside the organization and then your Hutchisons, Drabeks, Nolins, those guys are your sixth, seventh and eighth starters rather than, with all due respect, some of the Minor League free agents we had like a Ramon Ortiz, you’re not necessarily relying on those guys to come up.”

Do you feel closer to playoffs than this time last year?

“We’re not the same, obviously we weren’t playing well both times. I think there was more distractions last year. That’s not to say we’re enjoyingthe way we’re playing but the focus seems to be baseball related more this year than last year, I don’t need to rehash all of it, we weren’t playing well compounded with so many other stories, whether it was Yunel, so many other things going on. There were more distractions. I don’t know, I guess I don’t look at it that way. I guess I’d say, I still believe we have the makings of a good team that needs work, that needs changes, that needs health and we didn’t play the way we expected to. I think almost everyone across the game expected us to be a good team, to what level, I don’t know. But I think unanimously people thought it was going to be a good competitive team and it didn’t work out.”

So you’re saying you don’t think you need to make major changes?

“Depends on what you classify that as. We need to make changes, that goes without saying. How can we sit here with our win-loss record and say we’re going to maintain the status quo, that’s just not realistic. But what do you define that as, I don’t know. We’re going to need to make changes. What that is, we’ll take until the end of the season and into the offseason to make those determinations. But things change, even the last four-five weeks, we’ll find out more about some of these players, good and bad. We’ll know more about Brandon Morrow, Josh Johnson, Melky Cabrera. We’ll know more about the guys starting in the Minors.”

Thinking about bringing Johnson back?

“I haven’t thought about what the roster is going to be with guys that are pending free agents until we have more information. There’s a lean, there’s this, there’s that, we just don’t have enough information.”

One guy you didn’t mention was Romero, has he done anything this year to make you think he could be in the mix again?

“He’s had starts where you definitely believe it’s around the corner. He has spurts where it looks like it’s coming back and then he has had
starts where he didn’t perform as well. With him, you’re evaluating every single start he has and you’re hopeful … Morrow is the example in ’11 that we were waiting, waiting, and then it was the last three or four he was good. With Romero, we just need to see the consistency. He’s still young, he still has stuff, hopefully next Spring Training he comes in but I can’t project at this point what he’s going to do moving forward. We know the ability is there, we’ve all seen it, just consistency wise we haven’t seen it.”

But that’s pretty much exactly what you said in April or May. That has to be frustrating that the outlook hasn’t changed?

“I think everyone is hopeful and we just don’t have the answer on what will it take to get him back to where he was, to be that All-Star. I
don’t have doubts that the ability is there and that he is capable but to try and handicap it, put a timeframe on it, I just have no idea. I never would have predicted this to happen to begin with, even with how he began the season last year, 8-1, ERA was in the low fours, never would have predicted what would happen to him the last few months of the season. To try and do it now, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Will he be a September call-up?

“I don’t know yet. We’ve talked about a lot of September call-ups, obviously he’s a guy we’ve talked about, but we haven’t made any
determinations. We’re going to need a third guy behind the plate, certain guys coming back from injury for sure, Delabar and McGowan will be back. But we’ll see how they recover. The other guys that are down there, start to start and we’ll see how we’re doing and what our needs are. I don’t believe we’re going to call guys up to not play, it doesn’t make sense. If we think there’s innings or at-bats, those are the guys who will get called up.

He abandoned those mechanical changes during the middle of the season. Does that add to the disappointment?

“No, not at all. Like we told him, I think any mechanical changes were made were done in conjunction with him. We weren’t going to do anything he wasn’t comfortable doing,he was part of the process but I don’t think anyone said this is the fix. We know, exactly this, will get you back on track. Take three weeks, four weeks, let’s try this. That’s a lot of what happens, it’s trial and error. We don’t know why, we have theories and beliefs but we can’t really be convinced why things have happened. If he ultimately believes he has found something that works for him, and he feels good about it, and he believes in it, that’s what you have to go with. So the fact that he had that type of belief, absolutely, we encouraged him, do what you feel is best. You know yourself better than anybody else but at the same time he was struggling, was trying to find some answers, worked with him in 2012 and tried some things, skipped a start, tried a lot of things, just couldn’t get him going.

Any sense of next year’s payroll?

“I don’t know the number, it gets talked about in the offseason. I know we’re not going backwards but what ultimately the number is I don’t know. A lot of it will depend on what players become available. Last offseason it was a certain number, certain players became available and it changed. It’s always fluid.”

With the Blue Jays having lost three consecutive games and 24 of their past 36, general manager Alex Anthopoulos faced the media on Sunday morning to a lengthy chat. He touched on everything from the club’s defensive woes, plans for next season, problems in the rotation, Josh Johnson, etc. He addressed pretty much everything there simply isn’t enough space to fit it all into today’s notebook so here is the full transcript:

On the lack of fundamentals being displayed on defence…“It’s been sloppy the last little while, to say the least. We’ve talked about it at length. I know we’re going to be working with Colby a little bit more. Bautista, the first night in Oakland, threw away a ball. But with Jose, if you look at the entire year, he’s made some unbelievable throws, some very accurate throws to the plate. Colby has a tendency to yank balls aimed at home plate. It seems mores this year than in the years past. That’s something we’re going to work on a little bit more. Maybe it’s guys trying to do too much but it’s something that’s going to be addressed and it will eventually show itself on the field.”

Update on Delabar…“He was sore before, just after the break and we gave him two or three days off. He felt fine. The way (the latest discomfort) was related to me was that if this was the playoffs, he could pitch but it’s one of those things that it’s better to get on top of it right now because it’s taking him a little bit longer to get loose and there is inflammation in the shoulder. He was examined by the Angels team doctor here and they don’t think it’s anything significant . He’s heading to Florida and will be re-examined by our doctors. It looks like he just needs to rest, more than anything else. “

How does it get better, without chasing old money with new money?“We talk about how to address the rotation going forward and we have some young guys who are coming back. We’re hopeful that guys like Drew (Hutchison) and Kyle (Drabek) will get back here in September, though we’re not guaranteeing that. Drew is throwing today and they’re both throwing the ball well and their velocity is good. They are two players that, again before they went down, they were throwing well. We even look back at Kyle and see that towards the end, his command went downhill and you wonder how much of that the injury played in that. His command now is much better and maybe that’s because he’s finally healthy.

“Two guys like that could factor, and obviously a guy like Brandon Morrow who, last year was really emerging into a front of the rotation starter. Then, as well, we’ll be looking outside the organization to see if we can do some things.”

Internal Options?“I think Brandon has already proven he can do it here. Two years ago he threw 180 innings and last year he threw the ball really well. The other two guys had a short look and we’ll have another look once they get back here.”

Reconcile Payroll Issues with club improvement?“When we made the trades, it’s something we talked about. Going forward, ownership was aware, and ownership understood where the commitments would be going forward and they green-lighted everything. So, from a financial standpoint, the resources will be available for us. It won’t mean we won’t change some things and reallocate money as you do any time.

“It’s not like those contracts are sneaking up on us. We really have two years of commitments after the current year and, other than Reyes, who has been a great player for us, there’s really no long-term (five-six years out) commitments out. Reyes is going to have four years left on his deal and everyone else either has two years with an option, or just two years straight. At the same time, we were well aware of where we were going to be. We did arbitration projections. There will always be decisions to be made but we’re prepared for that.”

How much money will you have next year?“I don’t have a number right now and I wouldn’t divulge the number but what I would say is that we won’t be going backwards. That’s not in the plan at all. What the number is, is developed at the end of the season. That’s our conversations with Paul. But the understanding is that we will be able to financially handle those contracts so that was why we were able to do the deals. That was a big part of our discussions. 2013 was going to be fine, it was 14 and beyond. Everyone was aware of that. Ownership was aware and that’s not going to be an issue.”

Moving forward, who don’t you have questions about on the roster…“There’s still two months left, things change so fast. To sit here today, if you ask me at the end of the season I’ll have a lot more of a firm handle on it. If you look at what we’re currently running out there, the guys that have been able to take the ball the entire time and be consistent, R.A. and Buehrle are two guys that have been able to take the ball the entire time. J.A. Happ we expected coming out of Spring Training, we’ll see how he does when he comes back, he’ll make the start on Wednesday. Brandon Morrow, too, we’ll see how he does with his recovery. Guys like Rogers, we’ll continue to watch and continue to evaluate those guys but it could change. We still have a third of the year left and evaluations can change fast.”

Look at Stroman/Nolin this year?“We could. We’ve talked about it and that’s definitely something that could happen. We could take a look at one of those guys or both of those guys. Same with Kyle and Drew, we’re not committed that they’re going to be up but they are guys that could be up as well and have a look at them.”

Keeping Josh Johnson out there or is a change needed?“Right now he’s scheduled to make his next start but there’s no question it’s been about six starts where he has been getting hit. I know he’s working hard and he’s not making any excuses at all, he continues to battle. But it’s something we continue to talk about. We have to look at alternatives at some point if this continues, it’s really start to start at this point, it’s really the only way to characterize it. Right now, he’s going to make one more start and we’ll see how he does but we’ll continue to evaluate it each time.

Melky what can be done defensively when you have him for another year and it looks like you’re better on the field without him there…“I would say defensively, Melky looked good early in Spring Training, we noticed later in Spring Training, maybe the last 10 days or so, that’s when his hamstring started to tighten up and he continued to battle through it. Especially now, it looks like there are obviously some issues with his knees. He’s 28-years-old we definitely expect him to come back and be a much better defensive player. We don’t know for certain but I think a lot of the issues he had with his mobility were directly related to being banged up. It happened in the spring, in hindsight, if we had given him a month or two to just rest and get healthy, he wanted to battle through it, he wanted to play through it, we wanted to keep his bat in the lineup and it didn’t work out.”

Are you okay with the performance you’ve been getting from the catcher position?“I think J.P. would be the first guy to tell you he can improve in a lot of areas. I don’t want to single anybody out but I can point to so many areas on the club that we could stand to get better in so many spots. We can always make evaluations at the All-Star Break or four months in, two months from now things will change fast. I’ve used this example before, you look at Lind and Colby two years ago they had great numbers at the All-Star Break and then fell off towards the end so the evaluation changed.

“So, whereas, some guys really emerged at the end of the year where you got really excited about them. Brandon Morrow was that guy three years ago, he was really good at the end and carried it over into the next year. I just don’t want to get too far ahead with two months left on trying to make final evaluations on players.”

On breakdown in fundamentals and how that can be fixed…“I think one is continue to work at it. By just going through what can we do, what can we do as a staff? Are guys trying to do too much? For example, Jose Bautista making those throws. He’s made so many great throws this year. You’ re entitled to make some mistakes. Colby had had issues throwing. He’ll throw off and that certainly seems to be occurring more often this year than it has in the past. It seems there’s been a lot more plays and all his throws are sailing to that side. Some of the other things can be a factor of trying to do too much, extra things like that. Again, I don’t know that we have the answer right now. We continue to work at it and hopefully it’s going to improve. The same way as everybody was talking about Brett and how he was struggling to swing the bat. You work with him, work with him, he’s starting to turn it around a little bit and hopefully it continues.”

Does the general approach in Spring Training need to change?“I think it’s up in the air. We’re talking about everything, really. I’m not sure that I can point out the one specific thing. You look at defensively, one, some players haven’t played well. That goes without saying. Brett’s been in and out of the lineup a lot. Two stints on the disabled list. Reyes has been out for a while. His ankle, I don’t know that he feels 100-percent but he’s certainly good enough to play. That certainly could have an impact as well.

“Even from a defensive standpoint, Colby’s been better defensively, just overall on the season than a year ago. The throwing, obviously, the arm strength’s there, the accuracy needs to improve, hitting the cutoff guy and things like that. Melky we talked about and the issues he’s had with his legs we talked about. I think Jose overall has been good in right. I think it’s a combination of things, really. Stability, hopefully guys stay healthy on the field, things like that can factor and maybe guys trying to do a little too much.”

Physical mistakes are going to happen but it’s August and we’re still talking about mental mistakes…“I think it’s been talked about. I mean we’re talking about it now because you asked me. It’s something we’ve talked about internally. Guys are trying, guys are working. At some point it falls on the players as well. Maybe that’s something that as we’re evaluating going forward, the same way that you work with someone on their mechanics, working with someone at the plate to hit, if the results aren’t there you continue to work, to be committed to the players. But it’s not for the lack of any effort at all – whether it’s the coaches, the manager or so on. At some point, in terms of making the plays, it falls on the players as well. I don’t think these guys are trying to make mistakes. I think ultimately then it falls on me to get certain players that are going to start to make those plays. “

Did you undervalue defence in the offseason?“Obviously we haven’t played well defensively, so … I don’t know from that standpoint. I don’t know how much of an impact not having the shortstop and the third baseman there the entire time. You look at last year, Brett played the bulk of the year, did miss a little bit of time at the end. Obviously Yunel was out there for the bulk of the time at short. And, again, I think Colby’s been better in centre. I just think it’s been a combination of things.

“So, I would say this. In light of the year that we’re having, I think we’re going to evaluate (defence) even more than we have. I don’t think we’ve ever undervalued it. It’s always been important. There’s some guys that haven’t played as well defensively as we thought they would. So that’s probably been the most surprising part, that maybe expect certain guys to be better defensively. I don’t know that we ever lost value in it, but I can say that going forward we’re going to have even more value on it.”

At deadline you talked about having trade discussions about SP and 2B. Will those conversations continue in the offseason?“I think so. I think they’re important. They’re definitely the most important areas. There are other areas that we can improve in. I definitely think those are the most important areas. I think the rotation more than anything else. Some of it might be internal, but again, I haven’t looked in the last few days, but when you’re second to last in starter’s ERA that has to improve. It’s hard to get to .500, to contend if the starting rotation ERA is where it is. You obviously put a strain on the bullpen, it puts a strain on the offence when you’re down that many runs. Everyone trying to do a little bit too much. It starts on the mound for us and even some of the sloppy play against Oakland, we still pitched well and we won the games.”

Tougher to identify starters? “It does, you always look back and say did we miss anything on a certain player, is there something we didn’t account for, and it’s hard to say. From year to year, things change, guys don’t have a great year and the next year they end up having a good year, but you definitely still evaluate it. Even when you look at the free agent market last year, you don’t know who you’re ultimately going to get, we definitely went after some guys and talked about some players, I don’t know that we ever got so far down the road where we ultimately knew we were going to get the player. In terms of the trade market, there weren’t that many guys that were available, there rarely is when it comes to that spot, so it’s always challenging when you need to improve on the mound. But that’s not going to change goals of going out to do it.

Faith in RA as a front-of-the-rotation starter? “I do, I know he hasn’t put together that type of year, he’s put together some of those starts, he’s shown us the ability to do that. If you look there are a lot of similarities to last year, velocity is the same, ground ball rate is down some, home runs allowed obviously are higher, and the walks are up a little bit as well. That can correct itself, and we’ve seen some outings, whether it’s Canada Day against Detroit and a great lineup, we’ve seen some outings where he’s been really good, it just hasn’t been consistent the entire time. He is giving us a chance to win each time. I don’t know that these are the reasons but it could be the World Baseball Classic, getting ready to throw five innings a lot earlier, the injury and him battling through that early in the year. I can’t say from a definitive standpoint those are the reasons the performance maybe isn’t what he’s had the last few years, but it would not surprise me if next year he comes in and has a great year.”

Internal goal for rest of the season?“Just winning as many games as we can and playing well. Everybody in there wants to win games and play better and hopefully see some improvement from some guys you k now are going to be here going forward.

Lawrie still an option at 2B for next season or have you settled on him being at 3B?“You just don’t know what’s going to present itself. If all of a sudden an all-star, Gold Glove defender at third base is available that’s something you could consider and take a look at. Right now from a flexibility standpoint, he’s athletic enough that he can play anywhere around the field. If you put Brett in centre field and gave him enough time, he’d be good. I remember the first we moved him over to third base, it was rough, and everyone had their doubts. He is such a good athlete and has such a great work ethic, especially when you tell him he can’t do something, that he can make himself into a great defender. I would not have any doubts that Brett, with the right amount of time, would be a plus defender pretty much anywhere out on the field. Right now I don’t see that developing trade-wise, doesn’t look like there’s a lot of guys out there at third base, with some of the things we were pursuing, second base looks like it will be easier to fill, it doesn’t mean we will, right now if I had to project three or four months from now, there will be more second baseman available than third.

Esmil has already thrown more innings than he did all of last year. Will he need to be shutdown at some point or moved to the bullpen? “He could. We’ve definitely talked about it, during the winter as well he started, he’s been a starter before, thrown a lot of innings as a starter. When he’s not a 21, 22-year-old kid, you almost look at how many innings he’s thrown, what’s their high in their career? With Esmil right now we don’t have a number in mind, we’re going to continue to watch him, but at some point it might be something that we look at. We haven’t decided on anything.”

Workload related to his recent struggles?“Hard to say, I don’t know, better to ask him. A few games ago I thought his slider looked outstanding, it’s hard to say. … It could, it could. I don’t know for certain if that’s the case.”

Are there any untouchables on this team? “You have to be open to anything, there are certain players like anything you’re more reluctant to move because they’re very productive players, but you’re always open-minded, I’ll hear what any club has to say. We don’t shop our players, we target guys, and players are going to get asked about. There’s always a deal for anybody, it’s rare the other club will make it because it’s one-sided. There are a lot of players you’re reluctant to move because of how productive they are, and if you take them away, how are you going to improve on the production they’re giving you. But I don’t think you can rule anything out.”

Are you content with the rate of production in your farm system?“We still have a lot of really good young arms. We have a lot of guys down in Bluefield right now that a year from now will be in Lansing, or they should be, and that’s where they’ll start to get more notice and acclaim, but we have some young arms we’re excited about down there. Right now, we would be scheduled to have two draft picks in the first round unless we were to sign a free agent and lose one, so we still feel pretty good. We still have quite a lot of talent there, just some of them are a little bit further down and aren’t going to get the notice because they’re a year away. A year from now or two years from now, people will start to talk about them as some of the best prospects in the game.”

Which pick do you lose if you sign a FA?“Don’t lose pick from year before so Bickford pick would stay.”

Do you second guess how you nurture your minor league pitchers? (Syndergaard now in Double-A with the Mets as the main example)“No because he started in high A and that’s where he would have started for us and even, I mean you’ve seen some guys move up, whether it was Drabek or Hutchison. Hutchison was in Lansing, went to Dunedin and ended the season in New Hampshire all in one season. Or Mark Rzepczynski, the same way he through flew through as well. Obviously we loved all those guys and we really liked all those guys but we know that with young starters, they can get up here, like we’ve had a lot of guys come up here before whether it’s a Drabek or a Drew Hutchison, to get them where they’re throwing 200 innings and they stay healthy and they become mainstays in the rotation going forward it takes a little bit of time.

“The tough part about trading a guy like Noah and things like that is that while you’re getting a guy who’s won a Cy Young, who’s thrown over 200 innings three years in a row and it times better with your current club. You can’t get players for free and you have to trade talent away and I think it’s a credit to the scouts and the development staff that we had guys like that that we could draft and develop them to put them in trades. Ideally you’d like to hang on to all of them and sign free agents and not have to give anybody up. Some of those players, like I said, may end up being multiple All Stars, Hall of Fame, some may not pan out, some may get hurt, I mean that’s just part of it. But again, maybe by the time they become the mainstays, some of the current core will either be at the last year of their contracts or free agents or at the end of their careers. It was as much about us trying to move it forward, timing it with the current team.”

Do you keep being surprised about the waiver hoopla even though your policy has always been to put your entire team through waivers at this time of the year?“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s nothing really in August, it’s quiet, I can’t speak for every team but I think every club puts almost all of their players through. Maybe they put 20 of 25. I know it’s a story but when you put a guy through it’s the same as someone calling on the player in July. It’s the same thing. The only time I think you see moves like that is with money. Guys like Alex Rios was moved from us, he was making some money, he got claimed. Years ago Loaiza was claimed by the Dodgers from Oakland but other than that you really don’t see a whole lot.

“We won’t put in claims unless we think there’s a fit, especially claiming players with no service time, zero to three years of service you’re so restricted there’s no need for a club to make a deal in August. They can do it in the offseason. I just don’t think it’s news. If someone gets traded or I think if a big contract gets claimed and that leaks and is out there, that’s a story. If certain All-Stars get claimed, I just think if you didn’t see them get traded by the end of July they’re probably not going to get traded. Guys that are free agents, guys with big contracts, those are the only ones that I think should be big stories.”

The fact that it’s a club policy to put guys through waivers does that help inside the clubhouse when guys see their names leak? You can simply tell them everyone goes through that?“No one even asks. I think everyone knows we run everybody through. We’ve been doing it for four years now. I’ve never had a player come up to me and ask me about it. The only time I remember it being a distraction is when I was an (assistant general manager) and the report came out about Rios because I think everyone understood with the $67-million left on his contract at the time there was a scenario that he could be gone and that became a story. Rightfully so. It shouldn’t have leaked, you’re not allowed to divulge information by the rules but it was the only time it seemed to be a story in the clubhouse and everyone was wondering what was going to happen.”

Is your clubhouse in need of a “culture” change?“I don’t know that I’m prepared to say that. I think it’s just player change. Everyone throws the word around, “culture,” and things like that and I think it’s getting players that maybe are better defensive players. Some players and I’ve seen it, and again you guys have been around our team long enough, there’s been players you’ve seen who’ve been plus defenders. I remember there was a player who looked like he was going to win a gold glove one day and then the following year, the year after, the defense isn’t as strong and it’s not for a lack of work ethic. Sometimes guys change defensively and it’s hard to tell why they’re not the defenders they once were. I think it comes down, sometimes, to having the players on the field that are plus defensive players.”

Here’s what pitching coach Pete Walker had to say during a scrum on Wednesday afternoon regarding several key members of his staff:

Why only one inning for Brandon Morrow when all of the others are going two innings during their first time out this spring?

“It’s what he did last year. We’re going to stick to what worked for him. He had a great spring last year, came along nicely. Gave him the necessary days off that he needed to keep him fresh and things worked very well so he’s going to stick to the plan.”

So it was more his own personal decision to go just one inning rather than the club’s?

“Obviously it worked last year and he wants to get off to the same start he did last year. It’s kind of a mutual decision.”

How is the workload determined for other pitchers?

“More or less it’s going to be a pitch count. It’s going to be 30 pitches and then all of those numbers to start off right now, we’ve discussed them, and obviously the pitches are the primary importance. If some of those starters are listed for two innings, they certainly aren’t going to throw two if it’s a long first inning.

“We have time, we’re getting them right, most of them are on their five-day rotation right out of the chute. The second outing will only be two innings as well. We have an extra four or five days in the spring so we’re going tomake sure these guys are where they need to be at the end of Spring Training to start the season, get the right number of innings and control their pitches throughout.”

On Casey Janssen’s progress from a shoulder injury…

“He’s coming along as expected. It’s a little slow, we’re still hopeful that he’s ready to start the season. If he’s not, we’ll go to Plan B but we’re prepared for that. Right now, he’s doing everything he needs to do to be ready for Opening Day and that’s his goal.”

Janssen’s plan for the next couple of weeks?

“He has a couple of more sides and then we’re going to get him into a couple of live BPs. But his schedule is subject to change at any time. We’re going to take it day-by-day, see how he’s feeling. Our goal is to just get him 100% whether it’s Opening Day or seven days after that. There’s going to be no rush to push him. Obviously, if he’s going to be the closer in Toronto we want him to be 100%.”

How much work does Janssen need to get in before the start of the season?

“I think with him, that’s a tough one because obviously our concerns are him being 100% so it’s impossible to put a number on it. We’d like to get him into games by the 13th or 14th of March. Realistically to get him to start the season, he needs to be able to go back-to-back days, he needs to be feeling great after those back-to-back days because when we bring him up to Toronto and he’s pitching in front of 50,000 people, the expectations are high, the team’s ready to go.

“He wants to be 100%, we don’t want to put him in the situation where it’s a struggle for the first week or two. We certainly wouldn’t do that. I think it’s not really a number of innings, it’s just after that back-to-back outing, if he’s feeling great he’s ready to go.”

Lots of time remaining to work out the kinks…

“There’s plenty of time but certainly we’re not going to rush him right now. He’s coming along at the pace that the doctors recommended and we’re going to stick to it. If there are any setbacks, we’ll go to Plan B. Right now, he’s feeling good and he’s on schedule.”

Josh Johnson lost some velocity last year. Wasn’t entirely unexpected since he was coming off a shoulder injury the year before. Where do things stand now?

“I think he looks really strong. The conversations I’ve had with him, and some of the video I’ve seen of him in the past, he looks really good and he’s feeling really good. I’m very encouraged right out of the chute.

“He has turned into a pitcher. He knows how to pitch. He’s not as concerned with the velocity being in the mid-90s consistently. if he’s in the low 90s at times, he knows how to pitch. He keeps the ball down. He has incorporated that curveball now which is going to help a lot to keep the hitters off balance. But his location and fastball command is impeccable right now and it’s fun to watch.”

With the curveball in place he could become really dominant if the velocity returns…

“There’s no doubt about it. That’s what we’re hoping for. But what he did last year, if he can just carry that into this season, I know he’s really encouraged with the breaking ball. The fastball, if that velocity jumps a click, great. If it doesn’t, we still have a super pitcher.”

On Esmil Rogers…

“He has a tremendous arm. I’ve seen quite a few good arms here to be honest with you. There’s some power and some untapped power. But he’s a guy that came into his own a little bit in Cleveland, struggled a little bit in Colorado. You look at the numbers and you’re trying to figure it out, I don’t know what was going on there. It could have been the Colorado air. But in Cleveland it came together a little bit, used his slider a little bit more and he knows how to spin the baseball and has a power arm. He seems to be a very athletic kid, just learning and getting better.”

Who are the untapped power guys?

“(Jeremy) Jeffress is a guy, tremendous arm. And even some of the non-roster guys I’ve seen so far. Very deceptive deliveries and guys that can definitely help throughout the course of the season.”

The Blue Jays have released their pitching schedule for the first five games of the spring. It’s important to note that the amount of innings aren’t necessarily set in stone. It ultimately will come down to pitch count. If the starters have a long first inning then it’s less likely they’ll come back out for a second frame.

“I think I’ve come to realize that making expectations or putting stuff where we’re going to get to isn’t a good thing because every year I feel like we have a good team. The last couple of years we haven’t gotten to where we want to get to. Coming into a new team, on paper we look good, we have to stay healthy obviously.

“I think that’s with any team, we need to stay healthy and keep guys on the field and I think if we do that then I think we have a chance to get to the playoffs. From there, anything can happen.”

On having to leave family behind in the U.S. because of Ontario’s ban on pit bulls (Buehrle owns four dogs, including one American Staffordshire terrier which is banned in the province)…

“I think we’ve wrapped around it. At the beginning it was, just realizing the family wasn’t going to be there. Miami, we were able to live out in a different suburb so they’re there. But I think the biggest thing on that was we’re trying to bring awareness to the breed ban. Some families aren’t as fortunate as we are to be able to maintain two houses and be able to live away. She’s going to come see us, it’s not like we’re not going to see eachother.

“I’m not going to see the dog for awhile but we’re trying to bring awareness for the breed ban and help out those less fortunate than us. I don’t want to make it a big story all year, it does suck that the family’s not going to be there. But guys go through it, guys deal with it. We’re going to deal with it, we’re going to make it work and I’ll see my dogs whenever I can.”

Any success with people in Ontario on having the ban lifted…

“To be honest, that’s mostly my wife. I’m going to do what I can when I’m there. The last four or five years we’ve done some stuff with the teams that we’ve been with, doing rescue stuff, she has kind of spearheaded it and has been the leader of it. I’ve done what I could but obviously with going to the field every day and playing. She’s not going to be there, we won’t be able to do as much but if she has some stuff I can do in my off time I’m going to do everything I can to try and help out.”

On impact teammates will have without family being around…

“Obviously you’re around these guys a lot so we have a lot of time down here to gel together and get to know everybody. A lot of new faces obviously but yeah, just having these guys around, I know a couple of the guys getting traded over from Miami, playing against some guys, I know Sergio from Chicago. It’s good to know a couple of people over here and it’s going to be fun getting to know everybody and hanging out with guys.”

Been without family before?

“No. We’ve been lucky, this is our first time having to go through this. Kids are just getting into school this August so we haven’t had to go home for school, we’ve had them together. The last three years of this contract are going to be away and it’s something we’re going to deal with. It’s going to be tough in the beginning and not seeing your kids but people deal with it and we’ll make it work.”

Hard feelings about Miami after the club broke its word and dealt him during the offseason…

“We took the chance going in, with a no-trade clause. That was one question my wife and I kept asking, knowing what (Miami management) had done in the past and what the plan was , if it was going to be a long-haul thing or just one or two years. From what we got told, we decided to sign there.

“I don’t want to talk too much on it. I wasn’t too happy at the time and still not too happy with those people down there obviously being lied to. It’s in the past and I’m looking to move forward.

“It took me a couple of months and I think I got over it a little quicker than my wife. I think she holds onto a little more. We both realize there’s nothing we can do about it. From what we were told, it’s kind of hard to let it sink in.”

Did anyone from Miami reach out after the trade…

“(Marlins president David) Samson called me on the trade and then when the article came out where I said that they lied to me, he tried to reach out again and I pretty much said ‘I’ve got nothing to say, I don’t know if you want to hear from me right now. It’s not going to be the friendliest thing.’ I haven’t talked to anyone since then and I don’t really intend to.”

What did Samson say?

“He told me they didn’t see the kind of season we were going to have and the attendance was low. He kind of went that route. He apologized and said that ‘I know we told you these things, but unfortunately we have to do this.’ “

On what he’d say to people who don’t have pets and don’t understand why he is so upset about the ban…

“Being a responsible pet owner, you can’t just dump your dog on somebody else or take a chance of breaking a law and taking him up there. We’ve had people say ‘Oh, you can bring him up here and knowing you have money, no one is going take your dog because they know you’re going to fight against it.’

“But the thing is, Slater will have to sit in a cage until that court date gets there. It could be two weeks or it could be three months. People who don’t own dogs are not going to understand that you’re leaving your family, your kids, behind over a dog. We just feel that all the training we’ve done with our dogs, it’s better they stay with my wife.”

On the supposed myths surrounding pit bulls and what he would say about the breed in general…

“They’re real loyal to their owners. Obviously everybody thinks they’ve got the locking jaws and they’re strong and mean but the way his temperament is, he’s awesome with our kids. He’s awesome when we have parties at our house and kids run in and ask where slater is. Every kid wants to go right to him.

“That’s the shame. Just because the way he looks is kind why we’re going to be separated. I know people are scared of them and freaked out by them but it’s mostly the owners, not the dogs. If you’re going to tie your dog up out back and treat it bad, it’s going to treat you bad right back. If you tie up any dog and don’t show them love and abuse them or don’t show them attention, I think any dog is going to be aggressive and have bad behaviour.

“Often the news stories you see on TV about a pit bull-type dog biting somebody and you look at the dog and it’s not even a pit bull. People just throw that name out there.”

More on Slater…

“We adopted him from a shelter. He was going to be put down the next day. We do a lot of work with Hope Rescues in Illinois. It just happens to be the week she was coming home (to Chicago) from Spring Training that she got returned and she was ranting and raving about this dog and I told if if she felt like that, to adopt it.”

On the upcoming season and the hype surrounding the team…

“You can obviously say we have a good team on paper but that’s why we have to go play 162 games. You don’t crown the winner in spring training off what they did in the off-season. All the experts pick who’s going to win the World Series and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody have the two teams who actually end up in it.

“I like our chances, but we have to come out here and gel together and everybody has to stay healthy.”

Distractions in Miami last year… Johnson said the new stadium caused a lot of issues…

“I’m pretty laid back and don’t let stuff bother me. I like to have fun on the mound. I’m out there laughing. Good start, bad start, I just throw it out the window and get ready for my next one. Obviously I’m down to No. 3 or No. 4 in the rotation, so that’s always a good thing.”

On the Blue Jays getting Dickey and how it changed his outlook on the team…

“When you get a guy like that. The last couple of years he’s been dominating games. I faced him three or four times and two or three losses were courtesy of him. He was fun to watch. He’s a great pitcher.”

On his pitching style…

“I throw four pitches in any count. Obviously I’m not the hardest thrower so I have to go out there and keep guys off-balance. I just know I have faith to throw a changeup in a fastball count. I feel like I can throw any pitch in any count.”

Recently acquired starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle spoke to the Toronto media today for the first time since the 12-player blockbuster trade with Miami was completed earlier this month.

There wasn’t anything earth shattering in terms of news but Buehrle provided a lot of information about the problems he is going to encounter in Ontario because of his four dogs — including one pitbull. Johnson talked about how he wasn’t all that surprised by being traded because he expected something to happen before free agency. It’s just the timing of the deal that caught the potential No. 1 starter a little off-guard.

My article on Johnson can be found here while my article on Buehrle can be found here. Make sure to check both of them and if you’re not already doing so please give me a follow on Twitter @gregorMLB

“At first it was a little bit of a shock. I’ve only known one thing and that’s the Marlins ever since 2002 when I got drafted. They’ve always been good to me but as soon as I slept on it, I woke up the next day and I was excited. It was a little bit of a shock, I thought I’d be there for maybe another half season to give it one more run at it but as soon as I woke up the next morning I was excited and ready to move on.”

On whether he’d be interested in signing a long-term extension in Toronto…

“That would be great. That’s the last thing on my mind, is worrying about getting an extension, or how long I’m going to be there. It’s more about winning. That’s all I’ve been about since I started playing baseball. I’m all about winning, that’s all I want to do. It makes everything better. It makes food taste better, it makes your wife happier, your family happier, everything is better when you’re winning.”

What were the major differences between your 2010 season and the one you had last year…

“2010, everything was clicking. Everything was working. I felt like I could throw anything up there and it would be an out, or a swing and a miss, get lucky and a line drive right at somebody. Last year it felt like every ball fell … My timing, my tempo, tempo is everything for me in my delivery. Whenever that’s missing, or it’s off, everything is going to kind of be thrown off. My tempo was all over the place, I was getting into bad habits early in the year. I’d get away from them for a start and I’d get right back to them a couple of starts later. It was tough and frustrating but the last 10 or so starts of the year I felt like I was getting back on track and getting right where I need to get.”

On what he asked John Buck about Toronto and the Blue Jays organization…

“Just kind of how is it, what should we expect? Those kinds of questions. I’ve known nothing else but the Marlins. Mark went through this last year a little bit, got into Spring Training and didn’t really know anybody. But just what to expect, I knew where Spring Training was, I flew down there and kind of saw Dunedin a little bit, where do you live. Just the basic questions that make that transition a little bit easier.

“Buck said that it’s an amazing place to play. The fans are amazing and the coaching staff all the way through the front office and everyone was amazing while he was there and said it shouldn’t be any different.”

On Buehrle saying Johnson turned a corner near the end of the 2012 season…

“Yeah. At the end of the year last year, I’d say maybe the last 15 starts I felt so much better than before. I was kind of fighting myself, my body, trying to do this or that. Maybe trying to find a little bit more velocity but once I started to relax and trust myself, trusted my stuff, it kind of just came out. I don’t know if I was throwing any harder or anything like that but the depth I had on my slider, curveball and the location of my fastball got much, much better.”

On whether he’s talked to any of the current Blue Jays yet…

“Yeah, I talked to J.P., he texted me. I actually met him last offseason in Miami and I talked to him for about five minutes. He texted me and said ‘Welcome, I’ve already got a video on you, I’m watching it, and getting ready for Spring Training to get you back on track.’ I texted Ricky Romero yesterday I believe, maybe the day before, just to tell him if he’s ever in Vegas to let me know and if he needs a throwing partner. I told him whenever I’m in Southern California I’ll hit him up and we’ll get together.”

On his thoughts about the revamped Blue Jays’ roster…

“Extremely excited. The people I hadn’t seen in awhile, just last night, went to a basketball game with them and they were asking me about who’s in the lineup, and just going through it again and I was just like, ‘Wow, it’s even better than what I had first imagined when the trade first went through.’ I’m extremely excited to get it going, to meet the guys and start that camaraderie going.”

On using the curveball more last season…

“I used to throw it back when I first got drafted. Whenever I was in low-A, somebody told me I’m not going to throw a curveball anymore you’re going to throw a slider. So I just had to jump into throwing a slider in the middle of the season and with kind of mixed reviews. The first outing was really good and then after that it was all over the place. The next couple of years I learned how to throw it.

“I didn’t throw a curveball for six-seven years, maybe more than that. Occasionally I’d mess around with it, during flat ground I’d throw it. Then in 2010 I actually started throwing it, but my season was so short, nine starts, and I’d throw it once or twice a game and that was it. A little show me, slow the hitters down and then I’d just throw them a fastball, slider, changeup. Then, this last year I finally learned how to pitch with it.

“This was my first full season to pitch with it and to throw it that much. I was learning the whole year. Good thing I had John Buck back there because he helped me out tremendously. Whenever I was in doubt he would put it down, kind of gave me that re-assurance that this is the right pitch, let’s throw it. So I could throw it how to throw it and when, where to throw it, things like that.”

On whether he’s comfortable using it at any time now…

“Any count. Last year, I started throwing it 0-2, 3-2, 2-0, I was throwing it in every count. It’s a pitch I relied on a lot last year.”

On why he stopped throwing it in the first place…

“They told me not to throw it anymore. It wasn’t consistent enough and actually the game before that I was starting to throw it for first-pitch strikes, two strikes, I finally got that feel for it just like I had in high school. It took awhile, it took half a season to figure out, but then all of a sudden I go to my bullpen the next time out and they said no more curveball. So, I was like, ‘Um ok, I guess I’ll start throwing a slider.'”

On whether he’s talked to any of the coaches yet…

“Yes, I talked to the pitching coach. Talked to John Gibbons really briefly, he texted me the day he got hired and just said I wanted to say happy thanksgiving and I’ll call you after the holidays and stuff like that. Two brief conversations and I talked to Alex a couple of times. Everybody seems nice and everybody’s excited and ready to get this thing going.”

On what went wrong in Miami…

“It was tough. Seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. We’d have a good stretch there in May where everything was going right and I was pitching terrible too. I was maybe 0-3 in five starts in that month or something like that. We went like 21-8 or something like that. But then all of a sudden I started throwing well and the team was playing bad.

“I don’t know if it was more about, sometimes it seemed like it was more about the stadium. It was more worried about all of the new stuff, what’s going to happen next with the stadium and not worrying about just playing baseball and down to the basics of it.”

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